Wartime Evolution
by Pyrahus
Summary: He loved the way her hair would spill around her shoulders on days where she did not put her locks through a strict regime of curling and hair-spray; days where she would take only a few trusted men to the field and spend the day training. Slight Fluff.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass or any characters therein. I just wrote this fanfiction.**

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><p><strong>Fascination<strong>  
>He first saw her on the training grounds. Her violet eyes like shards of ice, her thick hair streaming behind her like the banner appropriate for the Goddess of War, she moved- incredibly fast- and crushed her sparring opponent.<br>This was the princess under the tutelage of Royal Consort Marianne "The Flash".  
>This is the moment when he resolved to be assigned to her personal unit. Something about her spirit; so different from her royal siblings, captured his attention, fueled dreams to fight for her, to watch her back.<br>Dreaming of her perfect porcelain skin, her rich voice and her graceful movements in the battlefield, he dove into his training and studies, determined to distinguish himself among his peers.

Years later, after earning the name of "Spearhead of the Empire", he was knighted by the very Princess that unwittingly was the oil to the flame of his ambition and hopes. Her hand perfectly steady, despite the weight of the ceremonial sword, touched the polished steel blade to his shoulders and head.

"Rise, Knight Guilford."

**Abdication**  
>Her disappearance put his world into a frenzy. He hardly registered the Empire's denouncement of his rogue princess and the redistribution of her personal unit.<p>

It wasn't until Andreas Dalton stopped him in the hallway and quietly muttered "Don't disappoint her." before strolling off briskly did Guilford realize what he had to do.  
>Clenching his teeth, he took on his new role in Area 11, determined to carry on until she returned. He would not give Zero the satisfaction of knowing that the disappearance of Cornelia shattered his resolve. He was her Knight and the princess would certainly never knight one unworthy, though never failing to bow to the likeness of her etched onto porcelain.<p>

In one of his more frantic moments, he barked a laugh at the idea. His princess was steel- he was the crockery.

**Reassertion**  
>Seeing the familiar figure beside her bedside brought a weak smile to her pale features.<br>She had heard that he had died in that flash and was surprised by the sharp pain in her heart at the news; she didn't think she could still hurt, still feel, still ache after the shatter of Euphie's dea-

Holding out her hand, she was surprised by how quickly he reached out to take it. She could feel the tremors he worked so hard to hide from her.  
>My poor, dear Guilford.<br>Curling her fingers to hold his hand, she hid a secret smile, realizing this was the first time they had ever held bare hands. She could feel the roughness of his palms and idly wondered if he too had ever secretly wished to clasp hands on the past as she did. A past that was more than lifetimes ago, longer than the world could remember.

"Princess".

That one word said everything. Cornelia bit back a laugh, not bothering to hide how her eyes went soft with happiness.

"You still call me that?"

**Consolation**  
>Standing at the gravestones a year later, she let tears fall for the first time.<br>Darlton, her Glaston Knights; all so good and so brave were swallowed up by the insanity.  
>The entirety of Pendragon- gone in a second.<p>

As tears blurred her sight, she felt Guilford's comforting hand on her shoulder.

The price had been too high.

And sweet Euphie. Even months later, the wound in her heart still felt as raw as the moment she heard the announcement. Now, she felt she understood what her sister had wanted for Area 11.

She mourned Lelouch, too.  
>Memories of the incredibly bright and inquisitive little boy always appeared side by side with images of Zero, like somehow, one could not exist without the other.<br>In the end, she supposed that he was trying to protect Nunnally in the same way she protected Euphemia.

Perhaps the two of them- one a protective older sibling and the other an faithful, bright younger one- were looking over Nunnally and herself in a happier place. She liked to think that they had gone to a place like the royal gardens of their collective childhood, to accompany Clovis.

**Domestication**  
>They were quite a pair.<p>

Each a little physically broken, each a little emotionally scarred and both a little sadder, older and wiser.

She adjusted amazingly well to the lifestyle of an ordinary citizen- though perhaps, the feat was not so amazing, considering her military campaigns where she often gave up her luxurious surroundings for the sake of an advantage against her opponents. The former 2nd Princess never liked nor suited the pomp and glitter of royalty like some of her siblings like Guinevere did.

He had a harder time adjusting to his new reality and even years later, he felt uncomfortable in plain clothes, wishing for the comfort he found in his crisp, stiff uniforms.

The two passed their quiet days, silently marveling at how much they still did not know about each other after fighting side by side for so long.  
>Every moment revealed another aspect of one to the other- he liked Earl Grey the best, 2 milks, no sugar.<br>She liked a glass of fine red wine once a week.  
>He didn't know how drive a car.<br>She spent an inordinary amount of time tending to her hair.  
>He loved children.<br>She secretly enjoyed reading romance novels and so on and so on.

(After the loss of most of his sight, Guilford, now unable to fully appreciate her expressive eyes said that he exchanged that privilege for the opportunity to smell that haunting perfume of gunpowder and roses that was so distinctly her. The gunpowder smell never diminished even years away from the field and secretly he thought that explosions flowed through her veins.)

**Unification**  
>They have a very small, very simple wedding. She has a seat set aside for Euphie. During the ceremony, through the veil, she could almost see the pink of her sister's tresses, shadowed by the brunette of her knight.<p>

At one time she had thought perhaps Euphie and that damnable Kururugi had a ceremony of their own in celebration.  
>Silly idle thoughts.<p>

She had no way of knowing that one Suzaku Kururugi watched the proceedings from a banister above and thrown a flower that blossomed on Euphie's grave as their blessing.

**Creation**  
>She hated this state- this exaggerated curve, this ungainly weight, this disturbance of her center of balance.<br>She hated the softening of her body and hated the way everyone around her treated her like an invalid, scolding her when she bent to pick up objects and banned her from doing any manual work. She hated it when she woke up at odd hours, craving tastes that would normally disgust her and having to face the embarrassment that she felt when she wakes her husband with her request and seeing a hint of amusement in his eyes. She would never admit aloud that she was scared of the prospect inching ever closer, every minute as her body and the little life inside of it crawled steadily to the 9 month finish line.

He however, loved it. Loved early mornings where he would lean over her and stroke the soft, taut skin of her abdomen. Loved leaning over his wife and whispering to a little being that couldn't yet hear. Loved to hear the breathless joy that tinged her laugh when their little baby first kicked.

**Summation**  
>They had 3 children together; Euphemia, Gilbert and Andreas.<br>Much to everyone's delight, Cornelia's sharp edges were softened by motherhood while Guilford cut a splendid father figure. She worked as a Knightmare instructor and he taught tactic classes in his spare time to fill their hours and create a sense of normalcy. Till the end of their days, he still called her his Princess even as her hair greyed and she would call him Sir Knight even though he couldn't walk without the help of a cane.

They reached the end.  
>He was the first to go; the FLEJIA proved to have radiation effects and his body attacked itself. She put on a brave face but followed soon after- their friends all fondly said that "the Princess has gone to find her knight in shining armor".<p>

And to the end, the two of them lived a happy of a life as they could manage, still ever a knight and royalty.


End file.
